


Warmth

by harpydora



Category: The Room Where It Happened (Podcast)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Everyone Lives/Nobody Dies, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Fluff and Angst, Other, Spoilers for episode 46
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-22
Updated: 2018-10-22
Packaged: 2019-08-05 22:25:30
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,040
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16376129
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/harpydora/pseuds/harpydora
Summary: Otto glanced up from their sudoku puzzles when they heard the door open, tensing. Only one—no, now two—other people had keys to the apartment, but they couldn't help but be on edge. For a number of reasons. When Corra, and only Corra, stepped through the door, their shoulders relaxed.





	Warmth

**Author's Note:**

> So this takes place in an AU where the red-haired Otto isn't killed and an incubator for a scary monster and where Corra now has two partners.
> 
> No betas, we die like men!

Otto glanced up from their sudoku puzzles when they heard the door open, tensing. Only one—no, now two—other people had keys to the apartment, but they couldn't help but be on edge. For a number of reasons. When Corra, and only Corra, stepped through the door, their shoulders relaxed.

When she saw them, she smiled, and it was like the sun peeking over the horizon. Otto returned it with a smile of their own.

"Hey, Red," she greeted, and Otto's smile faltered a little. They may have agreed to being called Red as a way to differentiate themself from the other Otto, but… It still stung.

The way Otto's smile slipped didn't go unnoticed. Corra closed the distance between them and sat next to them on the sofa. "Sorry," she said, her voice gone soft with a combination of concern and fondness.

It was that fondness that had gotten Otto through what Stanton had done. They'd clung to that fondness like a lifeline, clung to the hope that Corra was out there and safe. They hadn't dreamed they would escape.

They leaned against Corra, and she responded by wrapping her arm around them and pulling them close. Her warmth was familiar and welcome and Otto closed their eyes to better focus on the feeling of it. They hadn't dreamed they'd feel it again, but here it was.

"It's okay," they told her. "It's just hard to adjust. After."

Corra's arm around them tightened a little. "I'm sorry," she said again.

Otto shifted and turned into her embrace. "It's fine."

"It's _not_ fine," Corra insisted. "What happened wasn't fine. And I know you're not fine, either, because no one would be fine after everything that's been going on." She withdrew, and it was hard not to chase the soft warmth of her, but she placed both hands on their shoulders to keep them where they were. "Look at me, Otto."

The use of their name forced them to open their eyes and look at her. They studied the crease between her eyebrows, the downward curve of her lips, the set of her jaw, before they met her gaze.

"You're not just Red," she said firmly. "You're still you. We're still… We're still _us,_ okay? I still love you. The only thing that's changed is just…" She floundered for a moment, glancing down as she tried to find her words. "You're still you. Nothing Stanton did can change that."

She sighed and let her arms fall away from their shoulders. "I'm not good at the whole 'dealing with existential bullshit,' but I promise we're just calling you Red because trying to talk to both of you at the same time is confusing if we don't do _something._ " She looked back up at them. "It's not because you aren't Otto, too."

Otto hadn't realized how badly they needed to hear something like that until Corra had said it.

It wasn't a breakdown, exactly, but Otto certainly wasn't calm about the way they threw their arms around Corra and held onto her tightly. She responded in kind after only a moment and began rubbing soothing circles over their back as Otto tried and failed to get control of themself. They weren't crying. They _weren't._ But their breaths came in huge gulps of air and they felt like they were going to shake themself to pieces in Corra's arms.

She held them through it, a steady rock they held fast to as they weathered the storm.

When they finally got ahold of their breathing again, Otto pulled away just enough that they could look up at Corra's face. They weren't sure what they hoped to find there, but they knew that Corra's pity—if there were any—would shatter them all over again.

The lines of her face told their keen eyes a story: one of concern for them; of frustration at her own helplessness; of fear that their demons would never stop dogging them. But mostly, they saw her love. They saw how she had meant it when she said that they were still Otto, that the two of them were still an "us."

Otto sighed, and it was a shaky thing. "Thanks," they managed to say. "I know this can't be easy for—"

"Don't start with that," Corra interrupted. "Yeah, sure, things aren't easy, but things haven't been easy in a long time. That's… what happened isn't a thing you have to apologize for."

"Okay." Otto took in another breath. Let it out. She was telling the truth. "Okay."

Corra pulled them close to her again, and they went willingly. "What about—" They paused, unsure how to continue. The subject they wanted to broach was one they'd been thinking about for a while, but hadn't felt confident enough to bring up. Hell, they weren't confident about it now, but Corra had said… "What about Blue?"

Corra laughed at that. "I guess that's fair if we're calling you Red," she said. "But what about them? I don't want to diss your individuality here, but you probably feel pretty much the way they do."

"That it doesn't matter, I'm just glad you're in my life?" they ventured slowly.

She nodded. "Yeah, pretty much. And I'm glad you're both safe."

_That_ made Otto laugh. "Knowing me, Blue is probably out there doing something not-so-safe."

Rolling her eyes, Corra said, "Hush, you. Let me have my fantasy that both my partners are safe and sound and not doing dangerous things when I'm not looking."

Hearing Corra say the word "partners" filled Otto with a warmth they hadn't felt since before Stanton, or what they remembered of that time. They put their arms around Corra and pulled themself just a little bit closer.

They weren't sure what was going to happen. Stanton had tried to take everything from them and almost succeeded. But even though he'd failed, he'd still left so many things Otto would have to claw back inch by agonizing inch before they could find their equilibrium again.

In that moment, though, none of it mattered.

All that mattered was Corra's warmth. All that mattered was her embrace. That Otto was still Otto and that there was still an "us."

Everything else could wait.


End file.
